"May you always be surrounded by good friends and great barbecue." Famous Dave
My dear friend Jennifer, who's been by my side since grade school, is now living in Columbia, SC, with her wonderful husband, Matt. They got married last October and are a couple that most married people envy and all single people dream of. I have a special connection with Matt for a few of reasons. First, we both know how handle Jennifer who can sometimes be quite the spitfire. Second, I love spending time with the two of them, and never mind being the third wheel when I visit them in Columbia. Last, and most importantly, we share the same birthday, except he is exactly one year younger than me. And these are the reasons that I didn't think twice about getting in the car and driving to Columbia last Friday afternoon to help Jennifer throw Matt a surprise birthday party.
The afternoon of the party, Jennifer needed help running errands, setting up the house, getting the food ready, and making sure she didn't forget anything important. Since I do this kind of thing for a living, I took off work a little early to help her. Thankfully, our friend Charlise also decided to take off early to help out. I showed up just in time to accomplish one of the most important tasks of the day, buying the beer. Five cases of various brands later, we were on our way to the grocery store to pick up the remaining items on our to-do list, which included the ingredients to make banana pudding, the second dessert behind the iced pound cake Charlsie kindly baked.
A barbecue dinner is possibly one of the easiest parties throw because, in the South, you can't drive down the street without coming across a bbq restaurant or two or three, most of them prepare excellent pork shoulder, ribs, chicken and sides, and all of them cater. For this party, we fulfilled our guests wildest bbq dreams and served spicy and mild pulled pork, Sunbeam white bread, baked macaroni and cheese, green beans, and hash and rice.
Since my friends know how much I love to cook, they ran errands while I set up shop in the kitchen to make the banana pudding from scratch. I missed them while they were gone, but I actually loved being in Jennifer's new kitchen cooking with her new utinsils she received as wedding gifts and drinking a very cold Miller Lite on an extremely hot September afternoon.
I remember making homemade banana pudding as a child, but I'd forgotten how long it took to make it from start to finish. I'd also forgotten the sinful taste of rich buttery vanilla custard layered with fluffy whipped cream. And to make it even more decadent, the addition of cruchy vanilla wafers and the distinct flavor of its namesake ingredient, sliced bananas (no instant banana-flavored pudding here), make it truly Southern and perfectly suited to end a barbecue feast.
After what felt like hours standing over a hot stove, constantly stirring and watching the creamy mixture tranform into a thick pudding, I finally constructed it layer by layer to make the best banana pudding ever. If you don't believe me, ask the hoards of Friday's guests who almost finished the entire pan in near record time.
There were hours of girl bonding, beer drinking and barbecue eating for a regular Friday night, and we loved every minute of it. I hope Matt enjoyed his party as much as the girls enjoyed preparing for it. Happy birthday, Matt!
Banana Pudding
From Paula Deen Celebrates! by Paula Deen
1-12 oz. box vanilla wafers
1/3 cup unsifted cornstarch
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
3 cups whole milk
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbs. butter, cut up
5 perfectly ripe bananas, yellow with a few brown spots (personally I like fewer bananas)
1 cup whipping cream, whipped with 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
Line the bottom of a 13x9" glass casserole with about half of the vanilla wafers.
Mix cornstarch, sugar, and salt in the top of a double boiler. Slowly add the milk and cook over simmering water until the mixture is thick, 12 to 15 minutes.
Beat the eggs in a small heatproof glass dish and add about 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture to the eggs. Stir, then add the eggs to the double boiler. Cook for 1 minute more. (The custard should be about the consistency of mayonnaise. If it's not, keep stirring over simmering water until it thickens.) Add the vanilla and butter and stir until combined. Turn off the heat, transfer the custard to a bowl, place a piece of plastic wrap directly on the pudding to prevent a skin from forming, and allow the pudding to cool to room temperature.
Slice a generous layer of bananas over the vanilla wafers. Cover with about half the pudding. Repeat the layer-vanilla wafers, bananas, and pudding. Top with a thick layer of whipped cream. Serve at room temperature, or cover with plastic wrap and chill.
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